Kevin Pietersen retires from ODIs and T20Is

England's Kevin Pietersen has retired from ODIs and T20s with immediate effect due to the 'hectic international schedule'. The news comes as surprise as there are just a couple of months left before the T20 WC in which England are defending champions.

"After a great deal of thought and deliberation, I am today announcing my retirement from international one-day cricket. With the intensity of the international schedule and the increasing demands on my body, approaching 32, I think it is the right time to step aside and let the next generation of players come through to gain experience for the ICC World Cup in 2015. I am immensely proud of my achievements in the one-day game, but still wish to be considered for selection for England in Test cricket." said Pietersen.

Pietersen wanted to retire only from ODIs, but that is not allowed under ECB's contract. A player who retires from ODIs is automatically disqualified from consideration for T20s. Pietersen said that he wanted to play the T20 WC, but had no choice.

"For the record, were the selection criteria not in place, I would have readily played for England in the upcoming T20 WC."

Pietersen, who made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in 2004, played 127 ODIs for England scoring 4184 runs at an average of 41.84. He scored 9 centuries and 23 half centuries. An attacking batsman by nature, Kevin Pietersen thrived in the shorter formats and it was no surprise that he was successful in T20s as well. He made 1176 runs in 36 T20Is and was an important part of England's successful World Cup campaign in 2010 in this format.

The ECB said that it was upset with the timing of the retirement, but added that they would expect Pietersen to continue playing Tests.

"The ECB is disappointed by the timing of Kevin's decision less than four months before we defend our T20 WC title. Kevin is a world-class player and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his efforts and we look forward to his continued contributions to the Test match side." said Hugh Morris, Managing Director of ECB.

"As the programming and planning for ODI and T20 format cricket are very closely linked we have a selection policy that means that any player making himself unavailable for either of the one-day formats rules himself out of consideration for both formats. The selectors will now replace Kevin in both the ODI and the T20 squads" he added.

Pietersen will continue to play Test cricket and the Indian Premier League.